Uncharted Territory (Warriors 104, Thunder 99)

As a Warriors fan, it’s natural to expect this all to be a mirage. We’ve been trained by history to expect every success to be followed by a bigger failure. One step forward, two steps back — or maybe three or ten or twenty. Halfway through the 2012-13 season, what has amazed me most about the Warriors is how consistently they’ve improved. The successes haven’t been false starts, they’ve been building blocks for bigger successes. What better time to take a step back and admire what they’ve become than after they knock off the NBA’s best team.

The Warriors’ 104-99 win over the Thunder wasn’t a flawless game — but that’s the point. They beat a tremendous team despite the careless turnovers and Stephen Curry’s sudden inability to hit a shot. The Thunder similarly looked sluggish and sloppy at times, fresh off a game the night before against the Clippers. But that shouldn’t detract from what the Warriors accomplished in the heat of battle. Behind in the fourth quarter, the Warriors were the aggressor. They played not like they believed they could win the game, but like they expected to win it. It was a subtle transition from confidence to control. The fact that everything didn’t go exactly as planned didn’t matter. They rolled through the bad calls, the killer Durant makes, the head-scratching Curry misses, and they emerged at the other end a decisive winner. It didn’t feel like a fluke or some perfect alignment of the stars. It felt like the Warriors earned the win in all the little ways and — at least for Wednesday night — were the better team.

The story of why the Warriors were, at least for a night, the better team starts and ends with the Warriors as a team. Both on offense and defense, this was a beautifully collective effort:

On offense, the Warriors spent the first three quarters playing pretty much the same way they have for the last few weeks. Feed the hot shooting hand — usually Stephen Curry and/or Klay Thompson — and pick up a few penetration baskets for Jack, Lee, Landry and Barnes once the defense spreads out. That plan worked perfectly until Stephen Curry shimmied away his shooting streak. After knocking down an improbable fall-away and drawing a foul, Curry celebrated with a Mark Jackson inspired shoulder (and knee) shimmy. The celebration was premature. Curry went on to miss 7 of his next 8 shots, including a ton of wide-open three pointers.

As the Warriors’ offense went cold, the Thunder surged ahead. The way the Warriors responded, collectively, to Curry’s cold shooting was the difference in the game. Lee scored 7 points in the fourth quarter, repeatedly taking it at the heart of the Thunder defense and winning the battle at the rim. Landry delivered 8 huge points in the final quarter and killed the Thunder from inside and out — knocking down his mid-range jumper and lurking around the basket to be the recipient of some beautiful passes. No heroic moment would be complete with a Jarrett Jack contribution. This game was no exception, with Jack overcoming some sloppy play earlier in the game to deliver a couple of crucial baskets and 4 fourth quarter assists. Even Harrison Barnes and Klay Thompson — bit players in the fourth quarter offense — made key plays that kept the Warriors’ comeback rolling.

The ability to overcome Curry’s poor offensive stretch is a testament to the team’s depth, unselfishness and overall growth. The depth allowed the Warriors additional capable scorers to step up when Curry faltered. Without total unselfishness, the ball doesn’t move as freely as it did in the fourth quarter — finding the open man, with no hang-ups about who should be taking the “big” shots. And the overall growth and maturation showed in how the Warriors met the Thunders’ run not by buckling, but by collecting themselves and making an even bigger run right back at them. The Warriors were the more aggressive, focused and precise team when it mattered the most. They did the little things that elite teams, like the Thunder, do to close out against quality opponents.

But the Warriors’ offense was only half the story. That alone is cause for celebration after all these years of simply trying to outscore opponents. The Thunder scored only 20 points in the fourth quarter on 33% shooting. They turned the ball over 6 times in the final quarter (to the Warriors’ 3). They looked completely disoriented on offense when Kevin Durant wasn’t throwing up a shot (he accounted for 11 of their last 17 points in the quarter). And the shots that Kevin Durant did throw up were all heavily contested. Klay Thompson had as good as defensive game as I’ve seen from him. His length is a huge asset against Durant, but he also anticipated where Durant was going when he sought to penetrate and used just the right about of contact to keep him close at hand. Harrison Barnes also delivered a tremendous defensive effort on Durant, showing composure and defensive instinct well beyond his years. Draymond Green, in a few spot assignments, held his own. The Warriors came at Durant in waves — and occasionally threw a David Lee trap at him — and it eventually wore him down. 4 of his 7 misses were in the fourth quarter, and he was bailed out by the refs on a few others that would have been misses. The pressure the Warriors applied ultimately pushed Durant into being a passer — not a shooter — on the Thunder turnover that sealed the game.

The Warriors’ defense on Durant was tremendous, but it was just the leading edge of an all-around defensive effort. Jack and Curry kept Westbrook from penetrating, reducing him to an (exceptionally poor) outside jump-shooter. Ibaka and Perkins picked up points here or there, but they were afterthoughts in the Thunder offense when the game hung in the balance. The same goes for Martin, who went 5-7 in the first three quarters, then only got off only 2 fourth quarter shots (making 1) despite playing essentially the entire quarter. The one-dimensional nature of the Thunder’s fourth quarter attack may say as much about their offensive dysfunction as it does the Warriors defense, but the Warriors didn’t give anyone an excuse to go off. There were no easy trips to the rim. The Warriors were consistently solid in their man-to-man coverage all around, despite frequent adjustments to provide help against Durant. There have been plenty of games where the Warriors’ singular focus on stopping a single scorer draws them into playing horrible defense on all the supporting cast members. This wasn’t one of those games. As we look ahead to the deep, well-rounded teams the Warriors might face in the playoffs, this aspect of their improvement is significant.

Finally, Mark Jackson coached this game — hard — to get the win. The substitution patterns in the late fourth quarter don’t look like any “flow” coaching I’ve ever seen. There were constant offense/defense tweaks made to the line-up. There were timeouts (!) to settle the team. The Warriors’ go-ahead basket on a beautiful Klay Thompson drive came immediately after one. There were repeated adjustments on Durant — in-game adaptations that may have been the difference between an moral victory and a real one. Mark Jackson hasn’t suddenly emerged as the second coming of Greg Popovich, but he’s gained some valuable close-game experience as this season has progressed. His in-game decision-making continues to improve. You can’t ask for much more from a guy with under 100 coaching games at any level on his resume.

Big picture, this win doesn’t suddenly mean the Warriors are the best team in the NBA or can beat all comers. The losses earlier this month against certain opponents show the Warriors’ limits, and the Thunder aren’t one of the low-post scoring teams that gives them fits. To the extent you can describe meeting the best team in the NBA as a “favorable match-up,” this is one. What this win should provide the Warriors is a sense of belonging in the upper echelons of the NBA. This is not the We Believe team, making a frantic run and upending a heavily favorited opponent against historic odds. This is a legitimately-constructed, well-rounded, confident team — in the best sense of the word — that now approaches every game as if they should win it. They won’t win them all, but that shift in self-identity — from unexpected upstart to just plain good — is a huge step forward. This Warriors team is beyond anything I’ve seen in the past two decades, and they’re charging ahead into completely uncharted territory.

Adam Lauridsen

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I read the article and a lot of the comments. Fascinating how the local fans think the Thunder should be sharing the ball more and letting the 2nd team play more. They are worried about the other players just standing around. I noticed that, but i thought they moved the ball pretty well overall but badly at the end. So they have their issues with their 30-11 team. 🙂

Also interesting how one fan wrote in suggesting a trade: Curry for Westbrook. I guess someone s getting upset about Westbrook. Oh well. Of course it would have other people or whatever involved to make it work, but a couple of these yahoos thought that it would save them money they could spend elsewhere. Well, maybe so.

So, just for fun, money issues aside, if offered should we trade Curry for Westbrook?

I will say no to that question. For all the amazing things that Westbrook can do, he can also do what he did last night: sulk and then try to take over the game on his own or maybe just to get his average points. That really ground the Thunder attack to a halt. And to top it off, it had a big part in losing the game.

Durant is the guy who really keeps the ball moving around and watches what is going on. You never know what Westbrook is going to do. Durant is ‘the guy’ on that team, and he should be, but not just because he can score.

After watching all these games I have come to the conclusion that we are not that far behind most of the teams. In fact, because we have an organized system, our bench is as strong or stronger than most teams in the league. They certainly look more organized a lot of the time.

believewhat

I was thinking along the same line like JanG as what was I wrong about. Like many, I have bad memory of what I was wrong about but remember mostly on what I was right about 🙂 One thing I was definitely wrong about was Monta for Thabeet+Mayo. I always wanted Monta to be traded the day I realized Monta has become inefficient player plus we were not going to get that big PG to complement Monta(On that front I suggested Vasquez who is having amazing year this year as PG, still might have not worked well). It is interesting to go through the players I wanted for Monta because I thought they were available.

In the end what we have got for Monta in form of Ezeli+Barnes+Bogut+Richard Jefferson triumphs over the names I suggested, not to mention Monta’s departure enabled Curry+Klay to blossom making it addition by subtraction. Kudos to FO for taking in more salary in the process.

Myers should be executive of the year in recognition for the excellent job at FO. Among the only things I didn’t like dubs FO decisions were, picking Barnes over Drummond and had mixed feelings regarding hiring of Coach Jackson. Coach Jackson proved to be exactly the coach we needed. We criticized his coaching in November but hoped he will improve and he did improve in all the areas this blog was criticizing him for. Coach is in full control of the team and by now he knows what are the exact strengths and weaknesses of this team. We are still underestimating our team, as many of us were penciling in losses against Clippers and OKC. We see the players and we see them as bad defenders, TO prone, small etc.. but as a whole they are overcoming the weaknesses.

I am loving warriors season, it is surreal. It is a great season with a good chance for the season to become a special one, IMO.

monsta

Otis 71
that was amazing
really makes you appreciate adam for his precise, detailed accounts

I particularly loved the lame description of Collison’s and Perkins’ contributions:
“Nick Collison played 19 minutes tonight. And the Thunder lost. My stupid stat proved right again.
“Perk kind of played a tremendous game. He had 12 points on 6-8 shooting. I’m just going to leave that here and back away slowly.”
Now THAT’s heavy analysis.

Do have to say, though, his take on Biedrins’ hair was pretty inspired.

SJ Jim

“They played not like they believed they could win the game, but like they expected to win it. It was a subtle transition from confidence to control. The fact that everything didn’t go exactly as planned didn’t matter. They rolled through the bad calls, the killer Durant makes, the head-scratching Curry misses, and they emerged at the other end a decisive winner. It didn’t feel like a fluke or some perfect alignment of the stars. It felt like the Warriors earned the win in all the little ways and — at least for Wednesday night — were the better team.”

Quoted for truth. I haven’t had a chance to read any of today’s posted comments yet, but I think a lot of us saw the exact same thing happening as that game wound down to its conclusion. “Confidence to control”… exactly. If we can only maintain that confidence, this will continue to be a wild ride.

Now I am going to go back and read everything. It might help me to believe that we beat the Thunder last night while Curry was missing open threes…

monsta

Lee’s an All Star

jimsan15

Barkley on Steph Curry All-Star snub: “I’m so pissed off my head is going to explode.”

JT

Chuck is mad!!

Oakland Warriors

Congratulations David Lee. They dissed Steph, but the kid now has a reason to play with a huge edge and chip on his shoulder! It will elevate his game, just watch!

Steve La Porta

why would we try to get a small forward next year when we’ll have barnes and rush?

did anyone read jenkins’ column in the chronicle today? i know everyone says he’s a genius, and i know he’s very knowledgeable on a lot of subjects, however, i find him to be uncomfortably condescending oftentimes in his 3 dot column. anyway, today he stirs up the hornets nest in discussing bogut’s rehab, referring to unnamed warrior sources as being less than pleased with the developments on the recovery. it pissed me off and i’m going to write to him. i thought it was totally irresponsible. lately, everyone has backed off the pressure aspect — announcers, fans, writers, coaching staff — seemingly willing to let things unfold naturally without commenting on it every five minutes, and letting us see incremental progress in his workouts — plus, the team is playing great. why does jenkins have to be mr. know it all and cast dark clouds???

curry not on the all-star team — what a joke.

Coltraning

Congrats to our TWO, that’s right, TWO all-stars. I’m with Barkley. Aldridge is not even the best blazer this year.

monsta

And Lee isn’t the best Warrior.

Pbob20

Tired @41

“So you could tell that Curry “psyched himself out” because of his body language?

Have you ever played sports?”

“…. Fortunately, pro athletes don’t sit around worrying about what happened on every play. They just move on to the next one.”

To respond Tired:

First off, Yes I played sports, (whatever….).
For a guy who (rightfully) criticizes people for purely basing their evaluations on stats versus “what you see with your eyes” I find your response a bit contradictive to your normal stances.

Ignoring your wonderfully worded generality that NO PRO athlete would EVER get psyched out… I have two questions for you:

Were you at the game?
And, if so did you watch Curry for the next 5 minutes straight (including a long stretch on the jumbotron) after his 3 missed shots?

I did, and I knew what was coming (more missed shots) as soon as I saw his body language, hence the reason I kept watching him.

Curry’s hanging & shaking of his head, slumped shoulders, talking to himself, was so pronounced, and in contrast to first 40 minutes you couldnt miss it, if you were there, and you were looking. It continued through timeouts, and after further misses.

Sure, it wil be a while before he’s game fit and totally integrated into the team…but he will be a positive force from the day he starts to play…guaranteed. More so than FE or AB.

El Topo

No Curry in all-star game leaves the game tasteless…will not watch this travesty (never do anyway,,,game has been a joke for years now).

jsl

Tho Steph deserves it, this snub is a blessing in disguise. As noted, he’ll use it as a chip on his shoulder. And he could really use the four-day rest in February. It will help us in the coming push.

Sure, it’d have been nice, but the game’s become a total yawn.

BTW, kudos to Sir Charles.

monsta

Curry will probably still be named, assuming there’s an injury replacement, like Dwight Howard.

Plus he’ll be in the 3 point shooting thing.

dr_john

Steve La Porta

I’ve been ticked off ever since I realized that computers are taking over punctuation. One space or two—I don’t care. But ellipsis?

F+ck*ng computer turns your last ellipsis point into a period …. As if you were done thinking….

Well, my wife doesn’t read this blog (thankfully) and she is a Lafayette born and bred gal who did read Herb Caen, Pullitzer prize winning journalist for the Chron and the father of 3 dot columns. And let me tell you . . .

Jenkins is no Caen.

Now as far as your “hornets’ nest” . . . well, New Orleans is already marketing Pelicans’ gear, as if they owned those white/brown birds…..well. . . I’m from Oregon (now) and they can’t take our birds just that easy—we rook a lot of them east of the Cascades

Hell, Teddy Roosevelt knew how important this was after witnessing the egret slaughter, and established the Malheur Wildlife Refuge just for the birds, and south of that the Warner lakes in (guess) Lake County has OUR Pelican Lake, and then just south the Klamath Basin and Klamath Falls the movies are at the Pelican Theatres and the sports team are the Pelicans.

Who gave our State bird to frikkin New Orleans?? .. .. ..oh, sorry, that’s the Ducks.

We’re so stupid up here . . .we don’t even know the men’s teams ought to be the Drakes and the womens’ the Ducks. . .

Makes me mad. I’m gonna drive up to Pacific City and go to the Pelican Brew Pub and ask for some more info and free ale. . . I’m gonna show ’em a Fastbreak Press Credential.

I think the fact that things are going well will make it easier to bring Bogut in. The important thing for him to know is that he doesn’t need to try to overdo it – to try to do everything at once to make up for lost time. When he’s ready, Bogut just needs to ease in and do the things he’s capable of doing. And that will help immensely.

Steve La Porta

dr_john,

very good. perhaps you should send it to professor jenkins?

jsl

DrJ: Bruce Jenkins passed his “use by date” over a decade ago. Every once in a while there’s a nice, little observation one can cull from the chaff — but even these little nuggets have become fewer and too far between.

I still think thew best thing about him is that Gordon Jenkins was his father. Now THAT guy had talent.

monsta re Curry: Well, probably. So I guess I’ll just go with the chip. Still, it’d be nice if he got a four-day break, wouldn’t it?

Coltraning

I must not have watched the same Curry as you. I have been pretty critical of the hangdog slump shoulders, but did not remotely see what you saw against OKC. Far from it, I saw a supremely confident Curry who could not believe how open he was and then couldn’t believe he missed. He was LAUGHING about it, not moping. I guess that’s why cops don’t use eyewitnesses any more. Everyone sees it differently.

deano

On the subject of league-wide recognition, one ESPN scribe came out with mid-term awards. He had MJAck as Coach of the Year. People are noticing what GSW is doing.

I said before I like watching (for my own reasons) 5 teams from the Eastern Conference—and that’s the road trip four teams plus Orlando.

Not that there aren’t better teams, and games, but these four games coming up are going to be tough. They play the game, and none are lethargic.

But I have to miss the Milwaukee game.

Myself, my coach, and two of our sons are going to be in luxury box seats Saturday night in Portland for the Clips (courtesy a business vendor connection for one of the sons, the wayward one–the Lakers fan). Free stuff…

If I can, I’ll live blog a few comments from the Rose Garden, and of course, be flying my Warriors’ colors all night long.

Jackson may be a top Coach of the Year candidate, but League-wide, there are some worthies, including Thibs and the Blazers’ Stotts.

Always said I wanted the Warriors to win their own way into the playoffs, so Saturday night a Warriors’ fan will be yelling “Go Blazers”

…scotch

…in my most humble opinion, that was the best stinking game Carl Landry played in a Warrior uniform!!

@91 thanks for the article link. Some positive comments about the warriors!! And it’s good to know other markets know what an idiot Skip Bayless is.

Chris L

I’ll be covering the Bulls’ game for Adam—and one thing I intend to track is how the W’s respond to the Bulls’ rock-solid pressure defense.

Now that the W’s have risen another level—beyond anomaly, beyond unexpected occasional success—as Adam implies, it’s time to truth-test the authenticity of the kind of playoff team the W’s will become.

As Adam astutely laid out a week ago, good “points-in-the-paint” teams were (are?) a stumbling block for this team. Another stumbling block to hurdle are those pressure defense, trap-the-pick-and-roll, “blitz” Curry teams (3rd Clips’ game, how Memphis plays, Denver’s last 4th quarter, the Heat last game).

So Thibodeau’s Bulls will be another litmus test against playoff-level defense…

dr_john

Ah, Chris L, not only are you back, but to end it on an ellipsis like that….

Ice cream….

Otis

Chris L proves my theory. It’s his outstanding backup play that’s made Adam an all star this year.
Chris L is our Landry and Jack rolled up into one.

coltraning

Speaking of Barthelona and punctuation, is there any truth to the rumor that the Spanish speak the S as a “th” sound because one of their kings spoke with an ellipsis?
…….
🙂

Believewhat

monsta,

You convinced me that Curry would be selected :-(.

Any case I see him selected replacement for Dwight or CPaul or Tim Duncan. He will be most deserving replacement ever.

Son of Ahmed

…scotch, jsl, believewhat,

Thanks for the “hey!” It’s great to see the Dubs finally playing like a winner. I miss the give and take here, and I’m gonna stick around…Fair weather fan, …scotch? Really? This is what I get (besides the paper bag that has grafted itself to my face over the past 30 years) for being a “Warriors Worrier” for the past 30 years?…Too bad about Curry. Its surprising considering that he came into the league–before playing a single game–as a favored golden child. He’s worn the dream coat since he arrived. Yet, he was snubbed by the coaches today. Happy for Lee though. Too bad. It would have been fun seeing them together. Curry is more suited for the exhibition, though Lee comported himself quite well in the rookie-sophomore version of it a few years back. Its not the All Star Game that matters; its the respect…[Insert Rod Serling voice here] I used to believe in paragraphs, but that was before I discovered ellipsis.

Coltraning

Just out of shame, Dwight should bow out.

Tired

The whole All Star thing is like the Miss America Pageant- out dated and meaningless.

Come on folks. Yes, I get it, its a nice honor and all, but come on. There are lots of worthy people and not enough slots. it’s just like all the other All Star, All League, All pro, Heisman trophy, etc. Just kind of stupid. they don’t even compete in the game. Only football is worse.

This is further compounded by the fact that once you get on the team it is easier to stay on the team and that you can also go around with the “He’s an All Star quality player tag for the rest of your life. NIce, but again, stupid. see how these things perpetuate themselves and the phony ratings they bestow upon players for years afterwards? “Oh, he is an All Star caliber guy. Definitely worth the $16 mil.” Hey its not your money.

One more thing. Curry doesn’t need this or any other incentive to play better or prove anything to anyone. Maybe if he was in Jr. High he might.

My advice, f the whole thing. I’m sure not going watch it. haven’t in years. have better things to do with my time.

Cheers.

Tired

Coltraning

i’m not very good at languages at all- nor the historical tale like the cute lisp thing, but you might be interested to know that Spanish language people can have trouble saying hard Ts, for example, mostly because it is not in their language to begin with. “Th” (Thuh) is there, however. Hard for us to imagine, but if you never use it to speak you can see the problem. it is sort of like us trying to roll Rs or make clicking sounds. Every language group has these kinds of things.

This has an interesting result in our field of music. I have gotten emails from my friends in Latin America asking how better to teach the wind players down there to get good clear note attacks with their tongue. Our “pronunciation into the “‘horn’- horn meaning any wind instrument standard is “T” or Tee.” There are other vowels that go with it. Not every attack needs a hard T, but it is rather the most common and the standard for clarity. So playing with a lisp can apparently be an issue in these places. 🙂

Since most of our teaching here is based on English pronunciation, we have decided to look into this more deeply. We end up using sheer physical descriptions of where the tongue is, etc., instead of the much simpler and more natural language pronunciation. But it can be learned.

Thanks for the story. it is funny that we were talking about this today and i had never had that particular conversation with these people before today.

Tired

Good God,

DH has become a parody of himself. Which team will be next to pay for his “Services.’ Griffin will be glad know that Howard will soon pass him as most overrated player in the NBA. Superman, indeed. We really lucked out on that one. He is a fraud, and a shadow of his former self.

gary

Tired… you nailed it. I haven’t watched any All Star games / any sport in years. They are so stupid. Who really cares? At least baseball has made them meaningful with home field advantage going to the winner.

Chris L… look forward to your post late tomorrow night / Sat.

Otis… “Chris L is our Landry and Jack rolled up into one.” You sir, also nailed it.

dr_john

Dwight Howard:

“I’m taking my services to Venice Beach”

dr_john

Tired

My God, what a lurid post

How did you get that by the Merc filters?

I’m looking around for my Curry mask, hmmm, where’d I put it….

? (ellipsis)

sartre

From the Ball Don’t Lie:

“Thursday’s announcement is also a big deal for the Golden State Warriors, a franchise that hadn’t had an All-Star since Latrell Sprewell in 1997. That was the longest active drought in the NBA and a regular sore spot for the team during that time. Lee’s selection will become a source of great pride, particularly for the ownership group that invested a lot of money and marketing energy in him when they signed him to a six-year contract in 2010.

Unfortunately, the Warriors also boast the biggest snub of 2013: point guard Stephen Curry, arguably the team’s best and most important player this season. Most analysts expected Curry to make the squad, particularly if only one Warrior was going to make it. In the end, he was passed over, although that didn’t stop him from congratulating Lee on Twitter.”

Congrats to Lee for the deserved recognition. He was a 30th draft pick and not the biggest or most athletic PF. But he shows how a combination of a terrific work ethic, high BB, and unselfish mindset can help a player fully realize the upper limit of his talent.

I feel for Steph. The nba all star game is a joke but he, his teammates, and many fans would have loved the recognition it represented. Aldridge over him and Randolph over M Gasol were terrible calls.

Drexler: Stephen Curry. It’s hard to say David Lee did not deserve the nod, but he leapfrogged the better Warrior to make the team. Curry is not only a premier guard, but he’s also the best and most valuable player on his own team.

Gallagher: Stephen Curry. This is one of the few times when I’m both emotionally upset and rationally upset. Curry is leading a very hot Warriors team into the tough Western Conference playoff race. Who am I kidding, though — the All-Star Game is no place for a young, talented, deserving, exciting, efficient, awesome player everybody likes.

Gutierrez: Easily Steph Curry. He’s absolutely an All-Star, maybe even more so than David Lee, his teammate. I would have gone with Curry ahead of LaMarcus Aldridge, if possible. And if not, ahead of Tony Parker.

Herbert: Marc Gasol. Coaches probably didn’t want to vote for two Grizzlies, and Zach Randolph won out. Randolph is a deserving All-Star, but to my eyes, Gasol makes a bigger impact on most nights. Similar things could be said about the snubbed Stephen Curry and the All-Star David Lee in Golden State.

Highkin: There’s no excuse for Stephen Curry not to be there. He is shooting 45.1 percent from 3-point range on a whopping 7.1 attempts per game and is the key to the offense of the Warriors, the biggest surprise in the West this season.

dr_john

The outcry is a louder statement, right now.

We watch all-star weekend stuff selectively and don’t worry if we miss it, but the grandson likes it a lot, and I love him.

If Steph wants it, I hope he gets it. Mt. Tam or Mt. Diablo high ….

End of the month Warriors tie or edge in front of the Grizz in the loss column—I hope.

All of Northern/Central California is platted from Mt. Diablo.

coltraning

Thanks for the thoughts on Spanish tonguing. (sounds vaguely salacious). I do know I crack my Latina GF up every time I try to roll my Rs, and instead sound like one of my ancestors clearing his throat. Actually, a lot of horn players make a D sound instead of a T when tonguing, esp in double tongue, and I know some badass Spanish trumpeters who can fire up some monster tonguing passages. (Damn, this is sounding unintentionally pornographic!)

On the all-star tip, I hear you, but from what I can gather, it matters a LOT to the players. Maybe it helps them with endorsements and such. Remember Monta sulking and Baron checking out after they missed? What is different this time is that the outrage about Curry missing seems universal. The Chuckster, Reggie Miller, the ESPN crew.

I agree, the game is pretty useless. I used to enjoy it more, not sure why…

dr_john

Sartre;

A little different perspective from Fantasy B’Ball

Aldridge has been a rock right through injuries on a team that thought they were #13 in the West, and Stotts should get some credit too

Gasol started pretty solid but went away for a looong time and has been very inconsistent. It’s been very hard to hold on to him when guys like Vucevic and Pekovic have been tearing it up, consistently.

The fans get their day and mess it up. It is what it is.

No disgrace in being the 13th guy, just think if Love or Nowitski or Iguodala or Nash or Ibaka or Cousins was really having an outstanding year how tough it would be then.

Lilliard has a case.

If the Lakers are 19-31, Kobe will find an injury and Steph will play.

RickP

I want to congratulate Lee.

I also want to recognize him for his professionalism.

He played on several years worth of poor W teams. During that time, he consistently played hard and stayed positive. He has my respect as a player and as a person.

dr_john

RickP

I join you in congratulating David Lee.

He had some better years (than the last two) on similarly poor Knicks teams, and always appeared to me as you said: played hard, stayed positive and professional.

The game I remember is the , what, 38 points for the Knicks losing to the Dubs?

Now this year I’ve seen many a game like that from him—not 38 points and 18 rebounds—but even more effective in the ways that lead a team to fight for wins.

We’re so fortunate not to have to applaud the selection of someone like Latrell Sprewell.

I mean, there’s a limit to what my support for the Warriors can ever tolerate.